A NonExistent Phantom
by JessicaLovezU
Summary: We are ghosts with no place to haunt. Non-existent Phantoms in this world of the living.
1. Prologue

_**This was inspired by Requiem for a Phantom, and is loosely based on it. I own nothing besides my original characters and the plot. You needn't have watched the show this was inspired by to be able to go along with the story line. Please enjoy! If you are waiting for my other stories, don't worry. I am working on them right now. New chapters will be up soon.**_

**Prologue.**

_BAM!_

_A muffled pain-filled cry fell on dead ears as shots fired through the air. Blood poured through the shoulder of a young girl about 16, but it didn't seem to slow her down. Her eyes were like pools of darkness as she ran from the back of a car to behind a wall for cover. Her tight black Capri like, half shirt, multitude of guns, and white mask with holes only for the eyes was the appearance that sent most people that knew of her cowering in fear. Her shoulder length blood red hair flared around her as she turned around the corner, not even out of breath._

_She looked upon her shoulder for a second and deemed it still useful for battle. Reaching down, a bullet whizzed by her head, grazing her cheek but nothing hurt. Her adrenaline along with her training made her ignore the wound for the time being. _

_Reaching down, she pulled a small gun out of her shoe. Readying herself, she pulled back the hammer and closed her eyes, clearing her mind of anything within it. When she opened her eyes again, it seemed as if the small color left within it had been wiped out and they were truly dead. In one move, she swung around the corner of the wall while dropping to the floor, firing off 6 bullets in succession into the heads of each of her pursuers. _

_As the bullets hit the floor, she let out an exhale of misty breath. Blood dripped down from her wound as the pain finally hit, causing her to make a small gasp. Police sirens caught her attention and she whirled in the opposite direction to sprint away, applying pressure to her wound as she did. She had to get out of there. She had to get back to master. He would be mad if she didn't make it back in time. She would be fine. She had been through worse._

_As she turned a corner into another alley way, she stopped in her tracks and aimed at the person standing in front of her. The sun was positioned behind her so she couldn't see her features beyond the pure white dress that adorned her. Then the woman's voice reached her. It was like a beautiful melody that shook her down to her core. Her carefully constructed memories seemed to slip away as she stared at the singing woman. She seemed so familiar. The gun fell from her hands as the woman seemed to take on a glow that grew and grew until it felt like she was looking at the sun, but she couldn't seem to take her eyes away from the woman. The light grew till it seemed to surround her very being. Then everything turned white and she lost conscious. _

When she awoke, she was in a forest that she couldn't identify. In fact, she couldn't even remember how she got there. She looked down at what she was wearing and found she was wearing a simple white dress with a bra built in along with white slippers.

Getting up from the forest surface, she looked around and just saw trees, moss, nature wherever she turned. Something was off. Who was she? What was she doing here? Did she get lost?

So many questions whirled in her head, but she quieted them for now, thinking to herself that she wouldn't get them answered unless she did something. Choosing a direction, she walked towards it. Climbing over the things in her way easily, much to her confusion. Did she live here? Looking down at herself, she shook her head. Her clothing was much to clean for that. Lifting her head again, she sighed and kept on walking, avoiding twigs and other things that would make noise by instinct. She didn't even notice it.

Suddenly, something snapped and she whirled around, her body poised to attack only to find a half human, half horse type thing. Her eyes widened, this wasn't possible. She had no memories but somehow, seeing it with her own eyes made her think she was going mad.

It wasn't alone, others came up behind it and she quickly searched for a way to escape. They had bow and arrows so even if she climbed a tree, she wouldn't be able to escape. They had a horses body so she was pretty sure flight wouldn't work. She was utterly trapped and it chilled her to her bone.

The one in front spoke.

"Do not fear young one, we are not here to cause you anymore pain than you have already been given."

This got her attention.

"Wait. Do you know me?"

"Only through the stars." He said in a misty but calm voice. She didn't understand. She had no idea who they were. It didn't bring back any memories for her and it scared her. Maybe her memories were gone for good, but she would ask anyway.

"What's my name? Who am I? Please, tell me." Her voice quivered slightly as she talked. There was a desperation and hope that welled up inside her so suddenly that her eyes watered. The tear that fell from her eye was illuminated by the moon that made the half-breed's eyes soften in compassion.

"You are a ghost with no place to haunt. A non-existent phantom."

Pain stabbed at her heart so suddenly. It was like a dull blade was slowly carving it to pieces. Those words. They seemed familiar somehow, but not at the same time. Tears flowed freely from her eyes as she fell to her knees, supported by her hands. Whispers rose around her, and, without her really willing it, she caught a few words through her almost silent sobs.

"Is this truly her."

"Of this I have no doubt."

"She seems to frail to be the prophesized one."

"Are you doubting me?" The was a scuffle and she sensed an aggression of what could only be called alpha showing its power to its pack.

There was a muffled decline from a myriad of voices among the half-horsed people. She felt like she couldn't support herself anymore and fell fully onto the ground, curling into a ball.

Another scuffle sounded around her and she felt herself being picked up. There was a few gasps as she was placed on what she assumed to be the back of someone. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around him.

"I shall take her to Albus."

"Are you sure this is wise Fenrir?"

"She will not last if we don't do something."

With that said, he started to run off, knocking branches to the side so as not to harm her. She was so tired, her eyes blurring at random times. She wanted to sleep, but she couldn't. There was something inside her keeping her from closing her eyes to blissful sleep, but she couldn't figure out what. Soon they broke through the trees and he pulled a horn out of the holder type thing he had on his back. This was bad…She couldn't even remember was it was called. Wait… How was this bad? Why should she know about weaponry? She couldn't remember… A blackness overtook her as she fell into unconsciousness.

…...

Voices.

She could hear voices.

"Who is this girl you have brought to me Fenrir?"

"She is very important for the future."

"Truly?"

"Yes. I fear if she is not taken care of, our future shall be shrouded in darkness."

"You have seen it?"

"The stars tell many stories."

"I see. I shall have her taken care of by one of my most trusted allies."

"Very well."

She felt her shoulder be touched suddenly and she reacted before she could even think, grabbing the hand, twisting it before using her momentum to push off the horse-man's back to land on the ground in a fighting stance.

What she saw surprised her. An old man was rubbing his hand and looking at her calculatingly. She didn't like it. She wanted him to stop looking at her that way. Suddenly his eyes changed into a kindness that reminded her of an old grandfather. He seemed so frail all of the sudden as he smiled down at her. She felt herself relax just a bit and stood straight up, staring at him with blank eyes. Fenrir, as she heard him be called turned to her and laid a hand on her head. She didn't know why, but she was comforted by that gesture.

"Be safe, little one."

"I will." There was no logical reason why she promised that. There was no way of telling whether she would be safe for the rest of her life or die the next day. She felt like telling him, so it would comfort him. Like some unspoken agreement. Of what, she didn't know.

Albus watched the exchange patiently without saying a word. Fenrir turned around and trotted off into the forest. The girl watched him until she could no longer see him. Turning back to the elderly man, she turned her head slightly and noticed a…castle. It was truly a castle. The beauty in it was utterly awe inspiring. It must have shown on her face for the man said "Truly astonishing isn't it?"

She schooled her features into a blank mask, again not knowing why, and said tonelessly "Do you live here?"

He looked surprised for a second "No. This is Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry."

She was taken aback but did not let it show on her face. After all, if that half human, half man was real, maybe magic was too.

"What is your name child?"

It was not said demandingly, like she would expect it to be but just an inquiry.

"I don't remember." It was simple, and to the point. As if it did not effect her, even though her heart squeezed as she said it.

"What do you remember?"

She stopped and tilted her head back, being bathed in the moonlight as she did. Staring up at the stars, she said "A white light…It was so beautiful…I couldn't look away…It felt like all of my trouble's were melting away…being purified into something so calming and serene…it's hard to put it into words…"

Closing her eyes, she thought of that light wrapping around her, keeping her safe from all harm. She felt…loved in that light. Like there was nothing better in the world than to just be there at that point in time. Opening her eyes, she looked in front of her and continued walking "That is all I remember."

As she walked with him, silence rang in her ears loudly, but it was not heavy as it should have been. It was a calm silence.

Soon they arrived at doors which he waved a stick at, and to her surprise, the large doors creaked open.

_Wand._

The one-worded explanation appeared in her mind and she assumed that's what it was. She let her lead her into the large corridors, memorizing everything for further use later. Portraits that moved made her mind do flip-flops, and she noted in her mind to ask him about them later. It was dark in the corridors. The only light was the one that emanated from his large white wand.

Everything looked ominous with shadows cast over them. Soon enough, they ended up at a large bird-like statue.

"Lemon Snap"

She looked at him with an eyebrow raised before the bird jumped aside for them to reveal stairs. They went up the stairs, her watching as her exit closed. He opened a door to reveal and office with many gadgets she could not name. The man walked behind the desk and sat in the rather intimidating chair. He was obviously very important to the school. She chose to sit in one of the dark red chairs. It was surprisingly comfy, despite its appearance.

"Now then…" He flicked his wand and a white bird flew out of it. He spoke to it momentarily but she did not catch the words as she was fixated on the white strips of light falling off of it. It soon flew out of the room, and through the walls. She turned her eyes back to the elderly man and realized she just missed something so she changed the subject. Pointing her finger towards the moving portraits, she asked simply "Why are they moving?"

To which he answered cryptically "Because they want to."

She nodded her head, realizing this meant they had a consciousness, along with opinions, etc. just like a regular person.

They looked at her strangely, whispering things to each other.

"Do they age as we do."

"No. They are the embodiments of those who have passed on. These portraits are all of the other headmasters who have run this school before me." He gestured to the paintings adorning the walls. She took this to mean that he was the current headmaster.

Suddenly the door swung open and hit the wall, to which she tensed at. Her eyes flicked over to him, her entire body ready to fight, already considering different possibilities to escape unscathed. Her eyes looked upon the ragged looking man. He had obviously been asleep before. His hair was terribly crooked, his nose to big for his nose, but what shocked her the most was his eyes. They were a haunted coal black color. Ones that have seen so much. Her heart burned with empathy towards him yet she didn't know why.

He turned his head to her and glowered at her, probably expecting her to wilt under his gaze but her reaction was just the opposite. She glowered just as darkly at him, her body tensing and relaxing many time, signaling she was ready to fight if she needed to. His upper lip curled up slightly at her before he apparently deemed her unworthy of his stare and looked back at the headmaster.

"What did you bring me here for headmaster."

She looked back at him as well and saw that he had a mischievous twinkle in his eyes that caught her interest.

"Dear Severus…"

She caught how 'Severus' tensed.

"This young girl here seems to have lost her memory and was brought her by some dear friends of mine. I would like for you to watch over her for the time being."

"Headmaster, you know what position that will put me in."

"I am well aware Severus, but I shall not move on this subject. She is very important Severus and she must be taken care of."

She felt like she hadn't caught onto something and felt she needed to ask but saw that this was not the time.

"Why not get someone else to do it." He all but snarled it out at the elderly man.

She bristled at the tone. He was talking about her as if she would be some kind of burden to him. She knew she shouldn't but she couldn't resist.

"I agree. This man does not seem willing nor able to take care of me."

Heads swiveled in her direction, one with murderous rage, one with sparkling amused eyes.

"Watch your tongue while talking to your elders. You shall give me nothing but respect while in my presence." He bit out at her.

"Why should I respect a man who obviously doesn't respect me. You have to earn respect along with trust. I shall give it purely based on your actions towards me." She shot back.

He seemed taken aback by her attitude before swinging his head back to the headmaster he said acidly "I refuse to take her into my home."

"I am not giving you a choice." The headmaster said. His voice seemed to be absolute in this master. Severus clenched his hands repeatedly before opening the door with a slam and barking at her "Come with me!"

The girl looked towards the headmaster, to which he nodded and she followed after the stomping, child-like man.

"You shall refer to me and Professor Snape. Now tell me what you do remember."

She was not willing to tell him about the white light as she had this selfish desire to keep it untainted by him. It was stupid but it seemed like it would be tarnished by him.

"Nothing."

He growled "Stop that. What do you remember about your life. Your name, your wand, etcetera."

"I don't. I can't remember anything before this."

He stopped in his tracks and looked at her inquisitively.

"Not even my name."

He swallowed and turned back around, walking, not stomping this time, down the hallway.

"Then you need a name. I can't very well call you 'that girl'."

She thought for a moment before Fenrir's words floated into her head.

"Phantom. That will be my name."

He looked at her momentarily before nodding.

"Then that is your name… Phantom."

…...

_**Hope you liked it. Tell me what you think.**_


	2. Introducing Phantom

Phantom lay in the Slytherin head girl dormitory's bed. It was much to large in her opinion. Everything was green, silver, and black. She guessed one or two of them was the Slytherin's colors. Shifting on the bed, she found sleep did not easily come to her. She had already checked out every corner of the large dormitory. Apparently everything she saw, she memorized so she could close her eyes and see every part of the house down to the dust on, what looked like, priceless antiques.

She groaned and turned around on her bed, causing it to let out a small noise. Sighing, she closed her eyes and counted up from one. Somewhere near 1,003,581 she fell into a restless sleep.

…...

The portrait opened. She had heard the slight creaking. Her eyes shot open and she slowly put her feet on the floor before undoing the ropes to the canopy so it would cascade down around the bed. She positioned herself to where she wasn't visible from the doorway.

The door slowly opened, and she slowed her breathing, her blood pressure rising with adrenaline. A hand slowly raised, nimble fingers holding a black wand.

"_Lumos_."

The wand gave off a bright light and cast shadows all over the room. Thankfully she had slowly dropped to the floor to where only the top half of her head was over the bed. She could now see who it was.

Professor Snape.

She let out a relieved breath she didn't know she was holding and said "What are you doing sneaking into a girls room?"

He started as she walked out from behind the canopy and narrowed his eyes. "I did no such thing. If you didn't hear me that was your own fault. Now it's time for breakfast and you shall be introduced in front of the school." He thrust his arm out to give her clothing. "Here is the school uniform. You must where it everyday except for holidays. I suggest you go to hogsmeade to get your supplies as it is a weekend and there are no classes on weekends."

He turned around and then hesitated before turning around and pointing his wand at her.

"_Aetatis._"

A yellowy substance shot out of his wand and stuck itself to her. It was a strange sensation as it covered her body, seeped into her. She could feel it running through her veins before it gathered in her chest, shot out in the form of 16.

"You will be tutored up to year six then. For now, you shall not be attending classes with your house for there will be no point in teaching someone who doesn't understand a word the teachers are saying and I _despise _doing unnecessary things."

Nodding her head, she watched as he walked out of the room, but not before he turned on the lights, and shut the door with a loud bang. Tilting her head to one side she thought _I wonder why he is so bitter… _

She sighed and walked towards her dresser. Laying her clothing on top of it, she proceeded to get undressed but had a slight problem. No bra. That is, until she picked up her clothing to find a bright green bra her size with matching underwear.

_How did…_

Forget it. She didn't even want to know. Putting them on, she felt herself shiver as she noticed they were perfect on her. There were only two people who knew of her coming here and she didn't want to play iny-miney-miney-moe to figure out which one had been the one to get her these. Or which one was that observant…

Pulling on the skirt, she proceeded to button up her shirt. She was almost done when there was a banging on her door. "Hurry up." was what he simply said. Finishing with her shirt, she put on the robe, socks, shoes, and brushed her hair before walking out. Watching him out of the corner of her eyes, she walked out of the portrait and waited for him to lead her to where they were supposed to go.

Once he took the lead, he lead her through a myriad of hallways saying "You shall respect your elders. No pranks allowed in the school. Curfew is at 9 on weekdays and 10 on weekends. You can always stay up in your dormitory once curfew has been passed to finish essays or something of the sort. The library is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. everyday. You may check out books but only 5 at once. The great hall is where you eat your meals. Breakfast is served at 9 a.m. Lunch is at 2 p.m. and dinner is at 7. It is 9:30 so you only have 30 minutes left to eat. Since you are a sixth year, you shall be able to go to hogsmeade. There is only one of these trips each year near Christmas time. There is two weeks Christmas break but since I will be here you are going to stay over break as well. There is a Yule ball this year that fifth years and up will be attending. It is mandatory and you don't have a choice. Your instructor of dance will be whomever is your head of house. There are other parties as well but you will not have to attend. They will be brought up by the headmaster. The forest outside is forbidden unless a teacher tells you otherwise. You-"

"It's forbidden?"

He gave her an annoyed look and said "Yes. As in you are not to step foot in there unless you are with a teacher."

She thought about this for a second before she was brought out of her thoughts by his voice.

"It's forbidden for your own safety. Don't even think about going in there. There are many dangerous things in there that you wouldn't want to encounter. Especially since you don't have anything to defend yourself with. Even then, I wouldn't recommend it."

Instead of saying anything, she simply nodded. He looked at her meaningfully before continuing "If you have any questions or concerns ask your head of house."

They arrived at a large set of doors. He lay his hand on the knob and pushed it open to reveal four very large tables parallel to each other along with a large table upfront with teachers looking up at them. She caught Dumbledore's eyes and nodded to him, to which he smiled at. That sparkle was in his eyes again. He looked as if he had been in mid-sentence when they walked in. Professor Snape stomped up to the front table with his robe billowing behind him. Apparently he was making sure the other students knew he was there and _not pleased_. He glared at many of the students looking at him while she just walked with a bored expression on her face, although inside, she was amazed. It was beautiful, and her stomach rumbled as she looked at the food on the table.

Many of the boys were looking at her as if she were a piece of meat but she shook it off, ignoring the glares and curious looks from the girls. Only one person caught her eyes though. A girl with thin short black hair and hazel eyes looked at her curiously, as if trying to place her somewhere.

Anger welled up inside of her so suddenly, her eyes widened just a bit before she glared harshly at the girl. The girl smirked at her which only served to make Phantom more angry. Looking away from the girl, she put a bored mask on her face and walked towards the high table faster.

When she reached it, she stood up beside the place where the headmaster was sitting and relaxed her body to where she was leaning slightly back. Her robe fluttered backwards to reveal completely toned legs and her shirt rode up the tiniest bit to reveal a flattened toned stomach. Her arms dangled harmlessly back and she rested her head on the stand where Dumbledore sat. On the outside, she was completely relaxed, but on the inside she was seething and she didn't know why, which only served to irritate her more.

Dumbledore stood up and she glanced over at him when he started to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is Phantom. Now this young lady has lost her memory so you must help her all that you can. She won't be attending regular classes until she catches up but I'm sure you will all give her a warm welcome." There was a myriad of claps from different table's. Most fervently from a pair of twins at the table to her right. She smirked at them and they winked at her. Chuckling a bit, she hoped she would be sorted into their house. They seemed to be good.

"Now then, we shall sort her."

An elderly woman stood up and pointed her wand where a stool appeared out of. It didn't surprise her. Anything that happened here probably wouldn't ever surprise her. The woman nodded to the chair and she walked over to it, sitting down on the edge with her feet hiked up and crossed at the ankles. The twins were shouting "Gryff-in-dor! Gryff-in-dor!" Others soon joined in, but the other table started chanting "Sly-ther-in! Sly-ther-in!"

She watched as the woman put a hat on her head, which started to move. It then spoke…in her head.

_Hmmm…very intelligent…maybe Ravenclaw…but strong determination so maybe Gryffindor…oh but you strongly empathize with people so maybe Hufflepuff…hmm no…I see now…that cunning streak…the ability to assess a situation and plan an escape at such a speed…the ability to plan and enact that plan perfectly…you belong in…_

"SLYTHERIN!"

The table to the far left cheered loudly, while the Gryffindor table booed. She got up and looked towards the high table towards Severus. Was he her head of house? Almost invisible to the naked eye, he nodded towards her and she smiled slightly. Walking down from the high table she walked over to her new house where she tried to find a place to sit. That is, until she heard her name being called. "Phantom! Over here!" The high screeching, nails against chalkboard, make you want to kill yourself, voice called to her and she walked over to where she found a girl, practically clinging to a blonde boy. He looked her up and down before _ordering _a slightly bigger boy to move over. She sat down where the boy just moved from and immediately was bombarded with questions.

"So what do you remember"

"What's your last name?"

"Is that your natural hair color?"

"How do you stay so skinny?"

"I can't very well answer you all at once. One question at a time please. I don't remember anything at all. I don't remember my real name, phantom was a name I chose. Yes this is my natural hair color and I don't remember."

Despite her request, she was bombarded even further, so much so that she could barely keep up. Draco, who she found out was in fifth year, was the one who finally stopped the questions saying "I think that's enough. You can ask her questions later."

She nodded gratefully towards him and proceeded to converse with others around her. The girl with the high pitched voice turned out to be Pansy, a very _proud _pure-blood who was dating Draco Malfoy. She was also in fifth year. Actually, almost everyone around her was in fifth year. Feintly, she wondered how this had happened. Pansy kept insinuating that they were getting married. Said boy's eye twitched every time she mention marriage.

Pushing the theory that they weren't really engaged she said "So Draco, I hope you proposed at a beautiful place that she can remember when your together _forever_."

His eyes flicked over to hers and hardened as he said "I haven't proposed yet." The skin around his eyes tightened "but my parents are adamant that it be soon…"

Pansy laughed nervously "Draco…the way you say that makes it seem as if you don't _want _to get married"

Draco took a sip of his pumpkin juice and looked at her with an eyebrow raised "Oh really? I hadn't noticed…"

She immediately brightened up, obviously not getting the hint, "Oh Draco, I just _knew _you weren't saying that. I just _know_ that when we get _married _it will be the _best day of our lives, _and we'll be together _forever._"

Draco sighed, someone giggled, and Phantom mumbled underneath her breath "Oh Merlin, now even I feel smothered…" Since she was sitting next to Draco Malfoy, she probably shouldn't have said that so she expected something to happen but not for him to step on her foot. Hard. Her jaw muscles tightened a bit as she stopped breathing for a moment. Closing her eyes, she breathed slowly in through her nose, before turning to answer someone's question and stomping on his own foot.

She heard him cough beside her and heard Pansy fuss to see if he had a fever. Phantom felt someone pinch her hand suddenly and she fake sneezed to cover the slight hiss of pain. Casually glancing at him, she noticed a ghost of a smirk as he pretended to converse with someone else. She continued to talk to a girl she learned was, Parvati Patil. Grabbing her fork, she casually, not letting anyone see her, let it fall to her lap. Soon enough, she let her hands fall to her lap as well and grabbed it. Then, as she was shifting her legs, she jabbed him in the side with it, making sure it would leave a bruise.

He sent himself into another coughing fit, which in turn made Pansy fuss over him again, but this time she was adamant that they go to see Madam Pomfrey, who she guessed was the resident nurse. After reassuring her that there wasn't anything wrong and making a loud complaint of the food they served here, he sent her an almost unnoticeable glare. Unless of course, you were looking for it. She smirked at that.

Once breakfast was finished, she rose with the others and walked with Parvati, who was actually a nice girl, if not a bit conceited, but she guessed all Slytherins were like that. She walked with her down to the dungeons until she was stopped by Professor Snape.

"You need to come with me so we can go to hogsmeade to get your stuff."

She nodded and said her goodbyes before walking behind the Professor to the gates of the castle. "Um Professor?"

"What?" His tone was still rude but less than normal so she took it as a cue that she could talk.

"What are we going to get."

He looked at her for a moment and then opened the gate saying "You will find out as we get them." As he stood in the middle of the forest and gate, he held out his elbow to her, which she immediately took. It seemed like instinct. She wished that she could just find out- A jerk in her navel brought her out of her thoughts and she felt like she was being squeezed into some kind of tube that was much to small. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't think. Then it was over and she stumbled as she tried to catch her footing. Taking a gulp of air she heard him say "Well I guess that means you've never done side-along apparation."

"Or maybe I have and I hated it, just like I do now."

He nodded and she looked around. There were stores all around her. He let go of her elbow and started walking quickly towards a large intimidating white store. As they walked inside, she heard someone say "Coming! Coming!" A slightly skinny man with thin hair came out wiping his hands before looking at Phantom, who was looking at him curiously. "Wand broke, my dear?"

"Nope, lost my memory and have no idea where it is." He looked a bit surprised before chuckling to himself. "I'm guessing you've told a myriad of people."

She smiled despite herself, feeling very welcome in this shop of his. Clapping his hands together, he said "well then, it's time to find you a wand. Hold out your dominant hand please dear." Raising her right arm, she saw him take out his own wand and wave it to bring the measuring tape over to her arm which immediately measured her arm "9 ½ inches. Hmmm maybe…" She watched as he went into the back of the store and brought out a few boxes. Watching as he pulled out a wand and handed it to her. Something didn't feel right, but she swung it anyway. The lamp exploded.

"I don't think this one is the one for me."

He shook his head and handed her the next one.

The others had similar experiences and after a while, she started to get discouraged. She watched as he took a thoughtful stance and started mumbling to himself, before he walked down the staircase to where he was before. He came up blowing dust off a box and waving it away from his face.

"This is one of my experimental wands. It has two cores of unicorn heartstring and centaur hair. The wood is made of weeping willow."

She nodded her head and took it in her fingers. Immediately, she felt a connection, like she had another limb. The air gathered around her as it gave off a glow similar to the light she had seen. She knew this was the one.

"Interesting… Well since that one was one of the ones I was going to throw away but it seems to work for you. Ill take 5 galleons for it."

"Charge it to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Okay."

Professor turned and started walking towards the door. She smiled at him softly, holding her wand close to her heart "Thank you for the wand, sir. I'll make sure to take good care of it." Hearing the ding of the door opening, she hurried over to her Professor but was stopped when she heard the man calling back to her "Come visit me sometime. My name's Gregorovitvch Ollivander, what's yours dear?" She smiled at him fully with her hand on the door "Phantom. My name's Phantom.

With that said, she ran to catch up with her Professor who was now walking to another shop. When they walked in, she saw a myriad of different animals.

"This is where you will get your familiar."

"My familiar?"

"The animal that you will keep with you for the rest of your life, also, you will get an owl. So you can send and receive mail." Walking through the isle's she looked around. There were cats, rodents, birds, and other animals all holed up in cages. She somehow related to them, like she had once been caged in such a way, but in a different way. She paused when she saw a small puppy that looked much like a wolf. Actually, it looked exactly like a wolf. It was on the bottom row and she had to sit on her knees to look at it. It raised it's head and looked at her warily. It was quite a big puppy. It's red fur coat matched her own hair and had beautiful ice colored eyes. Although it had a lot of debris on its coat and the smell of piss and shit wafted over to her nose, she absolutely fell in love with the creature.

"Oh you don't want that puppy dear, she bites, howls and is very aggressive."

Bile rose up in her throat as she said "I'll take her."

"Are you sure ma'am? There are many others here."

"I'm sure."

She rose her hand up to the cage, allowing it to sniff her hand. It growled at her.

"If your sure dear. There are no refunds because we have so many dogs so this is final… Are you su-"

"I'm sure."

She looked at the puppy and took a roll out of her pocket. Tearing off a piece, she lay it on her flat palm towards the puppy. It's ears picked up and it sniffed it warily. She looked up at her, looked at it, looked at her, and looked at it again before slowly putting her snout slightly out of the cage to grab it with her teeth and drag it inside to eat it.

The woman came back and said "Well the puppy is yours… I hope you know what your doing."

"I do."

The cage opened and she watched as the puppy looked at her and growled at her menacingly, and she growled right back at it before quickly reaching in to grab it by the nape of its neck and drag it towards her. She picked it up and pet it head, before holding the rest of the roll to its mouth. She looked at her before eating the roll. She was such a big puppy but so underdeveloped that she guessed it was 3 months old. She gobbled the roll up and licked her fingers before looking at her for a long time. The dog was the first to break eye contact and lay it's head down on her shoulder. The cashier was apparently amazed. "That is simply amazing dear. I knew all it needed was tough love but my father was like no, don't hurt the dog. It's just misunderstood. I knew-"

"He was right. I didn't hurt the dog at all. I simply did what her mother would have done had she been here. She _is _misunderstood, and if you couldn't see that then I feel sorry for you. There is no such thing as a bad animal, just bad people."

With that said, she walked out, with her professor's eyes watching her the whole time. When she walked out, she realized that he still hadn't followed her and assumed he was apologizing for her behavior seeing as she wouldn't. She snorted. Whatever. The lady deserved it. You shouldn't work with creatures if you don't understand them. Petting the puppy, she smiled when it licked her face and it whined so she let it down. It seemed curious of everything and sniffed everything around her but never went to far.

"You need a name." It looked up at her with it's ears perked in her direction. She thought for a moment, her eyes lingering on the dog er…wolf whatever. Suddenly inspiration hit and she said "Ruby." Leaning down on her knees, she said "Ruby." She barked. Chuckling she said "You like it?" Another bark. "Then that will be your name. Ruby." Holding out her hand, she curled her fingers and said "Ruby, come here." Ruby padded over to her and she was amazed that the wolf-like creature knew what she was saying. Petting her head she smiled at her, and that's when her professor walked out. He looked at her and said simply "You need an owl." That surprised her. She had heard him before and nodded simply to him before looking at ruby and back at the store. Sighing, she didn't want the dog to think she was taking her back to the horrible place and simple walked over to it, leaving the door wide open for her to come in if she wanted. Surprisingly, she came right in and she proceeded to look through the owls until she came upon a simple black owl with coal black eyes. It seemed majestic and opened one eye to look at her. The girl came back with a scathing remark "Are you sure you want that one? A little to _normal_ isn't he?"

She didn't rise to the bait and simply said "Yes I'll take him." Instead of waiting, she wanted to name him now. Looking at him she said "Onyx. That shall be your name." The cage magically opened and she reached in to pet its feathers. It pecked her. Hard. Her dog barked. It hooted. She tilted her head at it, and it did the same before it flew out and landed on her shoulders, closing it's eyes. Bringing her hand out of the cage, she applied pressure to the small bleeding incision and soon it stopped.

"Will that be all?" This was said as if it was painful for the girl. Just to piss her off she smirked and said "Yes that will be."

Walking out of the store with her professor, she let him take the lead this time. Her wolf-like dog beside her and her owl perched on her shoulder. This time was different because Severus took stride only a bit faster than her, easy enough for her to keep up with.

"Attracted to lost causes are we?" It was said scathingly.

She took a deep breath inward to calm herself before saying "There is no such thing as a lost cause." He said nothing more but instead led her into a shop where he talked to the shop keeper. She didn't pay much attention to him but instead focused on her puppy. It was chasing it's tail and it made a ghost of a smile appear on her face. She didn't know why, but it felt like a long time since she had been this peaceful.

A baggy was held dangling in front of her face and she took it from the fingers that held it. What is this.

"It has your clothes in it."

"Did you shrink them?"

"Yes, and it is a bottomless bag."

"Won't they get lost in it"

"No, all you have to do is reach within the bag to sift through all of your stuff. It will never be filled. There is also a reduced weight charm added to it. You will know when it's empty and you will know when it has something in it." He was right it was a bit to heavy for such a small baggy but not to much so. Happy with it, she put it in her pocket on the inside of her robes. Turning around, she walked back out with her professor and familiars. He led her to another store to stuff her baggy with books and supplies, but she had to carry the cauldron.

Soon she handed him the cauldron and picked up her puppy before looping her other arm around his. It was a bit hard but they apparated to the castle, where the owl immediately took for air and her puppy jumped down, a bit confused. Ruby started sniffing everything around her and the professor opened the gate to which Ruby took the initiative and ran right in, pushing past Severus in the process. He sent the wolf-like dog a glare and she growled at him in return. Phantom giggled at that sight to which Ruby's ears perked up towards her and she dashed towards her and attempted to jump up on her. Phantom wasn't having any of that so she took her paws and turned her body then let go, ruby landing harmlessly next to her. Phantom took it a step further saying "No." in a no nonsense tone that stated she wasn't to do that.

Ruby immediately turned on her back to reveal her stomach, and Phantom leaned down to rub it.

"We need to get back to the castle." It was simply put, nothing mean put behind the tone.

She nodded her head and got back up, before taking her cauldron back and walking up the small hill towards the castle. Something was going to happen this year, she could feel it.


End file.
